Hard to Understand
by BTRlover98
Summary: It was always hard for Kendall to understand why he didn't have a father like everyone else, but he learns that it's harder explaining to his little sister why she doesn't have one. For Semi Official One Shot Day 2013 :D


**Okay, so this little one-shot is for my best friend in the whole entire world, who I'm probably never going to show this to, haha :) It's also for the one-shot day! I started writing it a really long time ago, so I'm finally going to finish it! I hope everyone likes it!**

**Also, I want to wish a veeeery happy birthday to asdfghjklblah! Everyone go wish her a happy birthday! Love you, Caitee!**

**I don't own anything.**

"You guys can just wait in the living room, I'll get some snacks!" 12-year-old Kendall Knight told his three best friends after they got to his house. They all threw their backpacks on the ground before going into the living room, where they found Kendall's six-year-old sister watching TV.

"Kendall!" she exclaimed, running over to hug him. "You brought your friends!" she shouted as she jumped onto James' back.

"Katie, leave them alone," Kendall said as he pulled her off. "Finish watching your show and don't bother them! I'll be right back," he told them before running out of the room.

James, Carlos, and Logan sat down on the couch and Katie crawled into Logan's lap. "Guess what! In kindergarten today, I made a gingerbread house!" she exclaimed, smiling wide.

Logan's widened his eyes, "Wow, really? That's so cool! I wish I could do that," he said.

"Yeah, and Mommy hanged it on the 'fridgerator!" Katie told him proudly. Logan smiled at her, congratulating her.

"Hey, what's this?" Carlos asked as he reached for a scrapbook sitting on the table in front of them.

"That's my scrapbook!" Katie shouted, taking it from him. "Here, I'll show you!" She opened up to the first page and pointed to a picture, holding the book in front of all three of their faces. "This is me and Kendall when I was a baby! Mommy said it was her favorite picture!" Katie flipped to the next page, and a picture of a man they had all seen a couple times before was there. They all exchanged a nervous glance as Katie went on.

"Oh! That's my daddy!" she exclaimed, holding the book up. "He doesn't live here anymore, but that's him! And guess what! Someday, he's gonna come here and visit me and Kendall! We're gonna do what other kids do with their-"

"Katie!"

She stopped, looking up to find Kendall standing there. He put the bowl of chips down on the table and took the scrapbook out of her hand.

"Where did you get this picture?" he asked. He took the picture of their father out of the book.

"Hey, that's mine!" she yelled, reaching up for it.

"No, you can't have it! Where did you get it anyway?"

She shrugged. "I found it in Mommy's room! And I want it back!"

"No, you're not allowed to have it! And don't call him your father, 'cause he's not!" Kendall told her, folding his arms. Katie frowned.

"Yeah, he is! Why can't I have the picture?" she asked sadly. She looked up at him with her puppy dog eyes, but this time, they wouldn't work. Kendall let out a sigh.

"I'll explain later..." he mumbled as he turned and walked away. He ran up the steps, and a minute later, he came back without the photograph. He sat down beside his friends, sighing. Katie sat on the other couch, glaring at her brother.

The blonde passed the bowl of chips over to his friends, who all glanced at each other nervously. They knew all about Kendall's father, even though he never talked about him. He used to, when he didn't understand everything, but now that he realized the truth, the only time he said anything about his dad was when he said he hated him.

And they all hated him, too. The fact that Kendall didn't have a father made them feel guilty that they did. And they knew how much Mr. Knight hurt Kendall. Their last memory of Kendall talking about his father was when they were only seven or eight.

* * *

_The four boys were sitting in Kendall's bedroom, playing with legos and action figures, when the phone rang. Kendall knew his mother was putting Katie, who was only a baby at the time, to sleep for a nap, so he ran out of the room and grabbed the phone. Three minutes later, he ran back in, screaming, "MY DAD'S COMING TO VISIT ME TONIGHT!"_

_"Really?" Carlos asked excitedly. "Can we meet him?"_

_"Yeah, of course! I have to tell my mom!" he shouted before running out of the room._

_"I've always wanted to meet Kendall's dad!" James exclaimed when their friend left. "Kendall said he loves hockey!"_

_Logan looked at Carlos and James in confusion, "Why doesn't Kendall's dad live here?" he asked curiously. The others shrugged. "That's weird!" Logan said._

_At that moment, Kendall walked back into the room. "C'mon, guys! Let's go wait outside!" he exclaimed, shoving his feet in his shoes. The others joined him before they all threw their jackets on and went to the porch._

_They waited for hours, but Mr. Knight never showed up._

_Every once in a while, Mrs. Knight would come out, give the boys snacks, and look sadly at Kendall. But Kendall was perfectly happy. His father was coming, and that was all he cared about._

_However, after the group of friends waited for nearly four hours, and Kendall's father never came, the blonde began to cry. Wasn't his dad coming? He said he was going to, so why wasn't he there yet?_

_When Mrs. Knight came out to check on them, she saw her son crying hysterically with his friends trying to calm him down. She asked the boys to wait there as she took Kendall inside._

_When Kendall came back out, he wasn't crying as hard, but he looked ten times more upset. He told his friends they could go back inside and finish playing with the legos. None of them asked him what his mother had said to him, but when they went inside, they heard Mrs. Knight yelling into the phone._

_"...don't ever call here again! If you're going to tell your son you're coming, you better show up next time! I'm tired of seeing him upset every time you break a promise to him!"_

_Kendall quickly led the three of them back up to his room. Although they were confused at the time, everything came together in their heads through the years._

_Kendall's father, for some stupid, unknown reason, didn't love his family._

* * *

Carlos, Logan, James, and Kendall all had their pajamas on, laying on the floor in front of the TV as the movie they were watching started to play. It was already almost one in the morning, but the boys still weren't tired after drinking six cans of soda each. Mrs. Knight yelled at them for making too much noise, so they were forced to lay down and watch a movie.

Kendall watched his three friends goof around with each other, and as much as he wanted to join in, he couldn't. The only thing he could think about was how he would have to explain where their father was to Katie. It wasn't that he didn't want her to know, he just didn't want to talk about it. It only made him angry, or upset, and he didn't want to end up yelling or cying in front of his sister.

The other three boys seemed to notice after about fifteen minutes how quiet their friend was being, but they were afraid to even ask him what was wrong. They all knew how much he hated talking about his father, and they all knew that was why he was being so unusually quiet.

"Kendall," Carlos finally whispered when everyone calmed down and there was an awkward silence. "Can we get more food?" he asked, hoping it would take Kendall's mind off what happened earlier.

The blonde laughed and nodded as he sat up. "Yeah, but you have to be quiet, Carlos! If my mom comes back down I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble tomorrow!" he whispered with a smile. Carlos nodded as he stood up, followed quickly by James and Logan. Kendall led them into the kitchen, and when he turned the light on, he jumped in surprise by what he saw, and he heard Carlos let out a tiny yelp.

"Carlos!" James exclaimed quietly. "Shut up!"

Kendall smiled and rolled his eyes, before turning back to his little sister, who was sitting on the ground leaning on the wall, smiling innocently up at her brother. "Hi!" she giggled.

Kendall sighed. "Katie, how long have you been down here?" he asked incredulously. "You know Mom's gonna yell at you if she finds you!"

Katie shrugged. "I came for a midnight snack!" she answered. "Then I got tired so I sat down and waited for you to come get more food for Carlos," she said softly.

Kendall rolled his eyes as he walked over and picked her up. "Well, now you have to go back to bed," he told her. "I'll be right back, guys. Just eat whatever you want," he said.

"No, I don't wanna go to sleep!" Katie whined as they exited the kitchen.

Kendall sighed, "Sorry, Baby Sister, but it's way passed your bedtime. You don't wanna get in trouble for being up this late, do you?" he asked, smiling gently at her. She shook her head before leaning it against her brother's shoulder. Kendall carried her up to her room and laid her down in her bed, tucking her in. "If you come down again or if you need anything, don't hide in the kitchen, alright? Just come get me," he whispered. "I don't want Carlos to scream again."

"Okay. Sorry," she whispered back. Kendall smiled.

"Goodnight, Katie."

"Wait!" she grabbed his arm to stop him, and Kendall sighed in frustration as he turned back around.

"What, Katie?"

She looked down at her hands shyly before glancing up at him again. Kendall noticed tears in her eyes right away, and he let out a deep breath, sitting beside her on her bed. "Why are you crying?" he asked as he pulled her into his lap. "Did you have a bad dream? Is that why you came downstairs?"

"Why couldn't I keep the picture of Daddy?" she asked.

Kendall closed his eyes for a moment, trying to decide what he should do. He was hoping she would wait until tomorrow to ask about it, but he should've known better. She wasn't going to wait. And he knew she deserved to know, but now? When she was only six? He knew she was mature for her age, but that didn't mean she would understand.

"How about you go to sleep and I'll tell you tomorrow?" he suggested. She shook her head, frowning.

"No, I can't sleep until you tell me," she replied. Kendall was about to argue with her until she suddenly gave him her puppy-dog eyes. He glared at her, sighing.

"Alright, fine," he muttered. Katie smiled, knowing that look would always work. Kendall moved her over in the bed before laying down beside her, wrapping his arm around her. He stayed silent for a while, hoping she would fall asleep as she waited for him to speak up. He didn't even know what he was supposed to say to her. How was he supposed to tell her their father didn't care about them?

"Kendall," she whispered. "Please, Big Brother."

Kendall let out another frustrated sigh. "Katie, you know how your friend Holly only lives with her dad?" he asked.

Katie nodded in response. "Her mommy lives in heaven, that's what she told me," she said. Kendall nodded.

"Yeah, well...that's kinda like how we don't have a dad," he said. "Except, our dad doesn't live in heaven." Katie looked up at him in confusion. Kendall knew he wouldn't be able to tell her. He knew she wouldn't understand. And he felt guilty. He should have just let her keep the photo.

"Where does he live?" she asked softly, nothing but sadness in her eyes.

Kendall shook his head, avoiding eye contact with her. He couldn't stand seeing her upset like this. "I don't know, Baby Sister. I haven't seen him since I was your age, and I never got to ask him where he went," he mumbled.

Katie frowned, looking up at her brother curiously. "Well why don't we call him and ask where he is?" she suggested.

"He won't answer, Katie. He...he doesn't want to see us," he said, finally looking back at her. But as soon as he did, he wanted to look away again. The heartbroken expression on her face made him want to punch himself in the face for saying that. "I mean, h-he just... We don't have his number anymore," he lied. He knew his mom still had his number saved, just in case he called so she knew not to answer.

"But why?" she asked. "Why doesn't he wanna see us?" she asked, tears filling her eyes quickly.

"No, no, no, Katie, don't cry," Kendall said softly. "I-I'm sure he would love to see you, but... Daddy isn't very nice. He's not like Mommy and the dads you see on TV. H-he just...he doesn't..." The blonde closed his eyes again. He wanted to tell her how awful their father was just so she would know, but he didn't want her to feel the same amount of pain he felt when his mother had to tell him.

"What?" she pressed on. "Why doesn't he love us?" she asked.

Kendall looked down at her in surprise. He never said their father didn't love them...even if it was true. He didn't want her to know that. He hated knowing it himself, and it wasn't fair to her. Or to him, or to their mother. Why couldn't they have a loving, caring, supportive dad like everyone else?

"Katie, i-it's hard to explain. We...we just don't have a dad..."

"Yes, we do!" she exclaimed. "I found a picture of him!"

"No, that's not what I mean," he said softly. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. He had no idea what to say. How was he supposed to explain this to a six-year-old? "I just meant...we're happy with just a mommy, aren't we?" he questioned, giving her a gentle smile.

Katie shrugged. "Yes, but I want a daddy too. Don't you want a daddy, Kendall?" she asked. He let out a deep breath, closing his eyes as he shook his head.

"I don't know, Baby Sister. Maybe I do, but... I want a daddy who will take care of us. One will who visit us once in a while, or at least just call. Our dad doesn't do that, so...I don't want him as a father," he mumbled. Katie didn't respond, so he finally decided to just tell her. "I don't know why, Katie, but... Dad doesn't love us like he's supposed to."

She looked up at him with her big, innocent eyes. He noticed right away how sad she looked, and all he could do was pull her into a tight hug.

"Why doesn't he love us?"

Kendall sighed. "Because he's stupid. He doesn't know what he's missing, Katie," he answered.

"I wish Daddy loved us," Katie whispered. Kendall nodded.

"I know, Katie, but...it's okay," he replied. "We're really lucky to have Mom, and we have Carlos, Logan, and James' parents who will always be there for us too. So we pretty much have seven parents!" he exclaimed.

Katie giggled. "And you have a sister and I have a brother, and no one else has them!" she smiled. Kendall laughed and shook his head.

"Well, some other people do," he told her.

Katie rolled her eyes. "But not Carlos, Logan, and James!" she giggled.

Kendall smiled and hugged her again. "Yeah, you're right, Katie. We don't need a dad, okay?"

She nodded and hugged him back. "Okay. 'Cause I have a big brother to take care of me," she said softly. "I love you."

Kendall nodded in agreement and kissed her head. "Yup, that's true," he smiled. "I love you too, Baby Sister."

**Welllll, I hope you all liked this. :) I might end up posting another one-shot later because I have something I want to write, but I'm not sure yet.**

**Thanks for reading! Review?**


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